The present invention relates to storage systems for vehicles, particularly to hidden storage for vehicles having side panels, while maintaining the external appearance thereof, and more particularly to different hidden storage arrangements, including various hinged side panel and shelving configurations, without substantially altering the external appearance of the vehicle.
Various types of storage/utility systems have been utilized in various types of vehicles, primarily pickups, trucks and trailers for transporting and/or storing tools, materials, etc. These prior utility beds for pickup trucks are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,978,153, U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,713, U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,971, U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,695 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,922, all of which have hinged sections exposed to view. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 1,990,757 teaches hinging a rear quarter panel to provide access to a compartment but does not teach how the panel is hinged. In addition, recently issued Design Pat. No. 385,224 teaches a utility bed for a pickup wherein the side panels have been widened to cover the wheel wells to provide storage space and includes a compartment above the wheel well and compartments forward and aft of the wheel well, with each compartment having an exposed latch mechanism. Recently a hidden storage system has been developed wherein the external appearance or contour of the vehicle has not been changed when compared to the same vehicle without a storage system therein, and the carrying capacity has not been significantly reduced. This hidden storage system for pickup and truck beds and trailers is described and claimed in above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,000. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,598, issued Oct. 20, 1998, describes and claims hidden storage systems for vans, utility and sports utility vehicles as well as modifications of the hidden storage arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,000. Fabrication of the hidden storage system may be carried out, for example, as described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,769 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,390.
The hidden storage system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,000, for example, basically involved providing storage adjacent the wheel well area along part or the entire length of the bed, and providing, for 20 example, the fender/side panel of the bed with a hinge and lock/latch arrangement whereby the fender/side panel can be opened to expose the storage area or closed and latched to conceal the storage area. In the closed position, the external appearance is substantially the same as an identical vehicle without the hidden storage capability. Thus, by use of the hidden storage system, the vehicle can be parked in areas where theft would likely occur from conventional storage systems.
Like pickups, trucks and trailers, there is small to no hidden storage in emergency vehicles, vans, utility vehicles and sports utility vehicles. Any hidden storage in such vehicles is in the interior thereof and access to the interior provides access to the hidden storage areas. Thus, theft from such vehicles is carried out by merely obtaining access to the interior thereof. To prevent potential theft, valuables must be removed from the vehicle and/or expensive alarm systems must be added. Thus, there has been a need for safe, readily accessible hidden storage in emergency vehicles, vans and utility/sports vehicles.
This need for hidden storage for such vehicles has been resolved by the hidden storage system of above referenced Pat. No. 5,823,598 and copending application Ser. No. 09/082,281 filed May 20, 1998 by applying the principles of that hidden storage system to emergency vehicles, vans, utility vehicles and sports utility vehicles, wherein side panel sections of the vehicle are hinged and provided with storage areas which are accessible upon outward movement (upward, downward or sideways) of the hinged side panel sections. In addition to the interior of the emergency vehicle, van utility and/or sports utility vehicles, which provide storage but the storage is readily accessible to theft, the hidden storage provides a "trunk" for such vehicles with minimum altering of the external appearance of the side panels of the vehicle, and which is readily accessible to the owner but not readily accessible to theft.
The hidden storage system of the present invention expands that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,000 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,598 by providing different approaches to hinging the side panels and various configurations of the storage interior and shelving arrangements. The hidden storage system of this invention can be fabricated via a conversion method, a modular assembly method, or an assembly line method.